Closure latch



J. D. LESLIE ETAL July 31, 1962 CLOSURE LATCH 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 15, 1960 INVENTORS iwzsfllfe's 5 I? Z BY erhzm Wei/kyle)" h.iilliii ATTORNEY July 31, 1962 J. D. LESLIE ETAL 3,047,326

CLOSURE LATCH Filed June 15, 1960 4 Sheets$heet 2 IN VEN TORS rArrow/5') y 1962 J. D. LESLIE ETAL 3,04

CLOSURE LATCH Filed June 15, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 x W //1 3' 50' I: ya7i :7 I 4 2 .imiliiiiilf =4; /1

INVENTORS ATT ORA/E Y July 31, 1962 J. D. LESLIE ETAL CLOSURE LATCH 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 15, 1960 3,047,326 CLOSURE LATCH James 1).Leslie, Birmingham, and Gerhard Rehkugler,

Warren, Mich, assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich, acorporation of Delaware Filed June 15, 1960, Ser. No. 36,420 11 Claims.(Cl. 292-34115) This invention relates to closure latches and moreparticularly to an improved vehicle body closure latch.

The closure latch of this invention is particularly useful for vehiclebody deck lids and generally includes a latch assembly and bodilyshiftable striker means movable between extended and retracted positionswith respect to a supporting frame to move the deck lid betweenpartially open and fully closed positions.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the latch assembly issupported on the closure and the striker means are movably supported onthe body by linkage means, with detent means being provided to hold thestriker means in either its extended or retracted positions. Duringmovement of the closure from a 'fully open position to a partially openposition, means are provided to store operating energy for moving thestriker means from its extended to its retracted position, with thedetent means holding the striker means in extended position against theforce of the stored energy. Upon latching engagement of the latchassembly with the striker means in the extended position of the strikermeans and partially open position of the closure, the detent means isreleased to allow the stored operating energy to dissipate and move thestriker means to retracted position to thereby move the closure from apartially open position to a fully closed position. During movement ofthe striker means from extended to retracted positions, further meansare provided to store operating energy for moving the striker means fromits retracted position to its extended position, with the detent meansholding the striker means in retracted position against the force ,ofthe stored operating energy. Thereafter, upon disengagement of the latchassembly from the striker means, the detent means are released to allowthe stored energy to dissipate and move the striker means from itsretracted position to its extended position in engagement with thedetent means as the deck lid moves from a fully closed position to apartially open position.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a new and improvedvehicle closure latch. Another object of this invention is to provide anew and improved closure latch for vehicle closure and body memberswhich includes a latch assembly supported on one member and strikermeans supported on the other member for movement between extended andretracted positions, with detent means being provided to hold thestriker means in extended position against the force of operating energywhich is stored as the closure member moves from a fully open to apartially open position, latching engagement of the latch assembly withthe striker means in the partially open position of the closure membercausing the detent means to be released so as to allow the storedoperating energy to dissipate and thereby move the closure member from apartially open to a fully closed position in engagement with the bodymember. A further object of this invention is to provide a new andimproved closure latch for vehicle closure and body members whichincludes a latch assembly supported on one member, striker meanssupported on the other member for movement between extended andretracted positions, detent means for holding the striker means ineither of its positions, with means being provided to store energy uponmovement of the closure member from open to partially open positions andto dissipate this energy upon latching engagement of States Patent thelatch assembly with the striker means and release of the detent means tomove the striker means from an extended to a retracted position inengagement with the detent means and thereby move the closure member tofully closed position in engagement with the body member, and withfurther means being provided to store energy upon movement of thestriker means from an extended to a retracted position in engagementwith the detent means, with this energy being dissipated to move thestriker means from a retracted to an extended position upondisengagement of the latch assembly from the striker means and releaseof the .detent means as the closure member moves from a fully closed toa partially open position.

These and other objects of this invention will be readily apparent fromthe following specification and drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partial perspective view of a vehicle body having a decklid swingably mounted thereon for movement between open and closedpositions and embodying a closure latch according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partially broken away elevational view of the strikerassembly in extended position; 7

FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of the striker assembly inextended position;

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 showing the striker assembly inretracted position;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken generally along the plane indicatedby line 5.5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken generally along the plane indicatedby line 6-6 of FIGURE 5, and;

FIGURE 7 is an exploded perspective View of the striker assembly inretracted position.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a vehicle body10 includes a deck compartment 12 which is opened and closed by a decklid 14 swingably mounted on body It) by a pair of spaced counterbalancehinges 16. An offset lever 18 is pivotally mounted at 20 on body 10 andincludes a roller 22 at one end thereof which is adapted to be contactedby the deck lid 14 upon movement of the deck lid from its fully openposition, as shown, to a partially open position. A coil tension spring24 has one end thereof hooked to the other end of the lever 18, with theother end of the spring being secured to a flexible cable 26. Cable 26extends over a plurality of pulleys 28, each of which is pivotallysupported at 30 on an oltset bracket 32 secured to the body 10 so as toguide the cable 26 along one side of the compartment 12 and partiallyacross the rear side of the compartment to a striker assembly 34 mountedon the rear wall of compartment 12 at approximately the centerlinethereof of the body so as to be engageable by a latch assembly mountedon the deck lid 14.

Referring now particularly to FIGURES 2 through 7 of the drawings, thestriker assembly will be described. A centrally offset support frame 36i suitably mounted within the compartment 12 as by a number of bolts,not shown, which extend through apertures 38 in frame 36 and likeapertures in the rear wall of compartment 12. A bell crank lever 4t)pivoted at 42 on frame 36 is continually biased in a clockwise directionby a coil tension spring 44 having one end hooked within a notch inlever 44 and the other end hooked over a notched lanced out tab 46 offrame 36. The other end of the cable 26 is looped over a headed stud 48secured to the lever 40.

An offset link 50 is pivoted at 52 to lever 40 and includes a lateralfoot 54. Link St} is pivotally pinned at 56 to a detented lever 58, withthe pin 56 being movable in an arcuate closed slot 59 of frame 36 havingits center at a pivot 69 on the frame. Pivot 6% provides the pivot forlever 58 on the frame 36 whereby the lever 58 will swing 3 about pivot66 as pin 56 which interconnects the lever and the link i. moves withinthe slot 59. Lever 58 is further pivoted at 62 to one end of a link 64.The other end of link 64 is pivoted at 66 to one end of a link 68 havingits other end pivoted at 76 on frame 36.

The striker frame 72 is located adjacent to frame 36, with the lower endof the frame 72 being connected to the frame 36 by a link 74 having oneend pivoted at 76 to the frame 36 and the other end pivoted at 78 to theframe 72. A pair of detent levers 8t and 82 are coaxially mounted at 84on the frame 72. A coil torsion spring 86 mounted on the pivot 84 hasone end thereof hooked under one of the legs of lever 32 and the otherend 99 thereof hooked over an offset of one leg of lever 80 so as tohold the one leg of lever 82 in engagement with the offset of the oneleg of the lever 89. Lever 82 includes a detent foot 92 which is adaptedto engage a detent shoulder 94 of the lever 58 when the striker assemblyis in a retracted posi-' tion, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 7, and lever 80includes a detent foot 96 which is adapted to engage a detent shoulder98 of lever 53 when the striker assembly is in an extended position, asshown in FIGURES 2 and 3. A spring 106 having one end hooked within anopening 102 of frame 72 and the other end hooked over a notched lateraltab 104 of lever 80 biases the levers 80 and 82 counterclockwise at alltimes.

As best shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 of the drawings, a U-shaped strikersupport bracket 106 includes an offset base wall 108 which is aperturedso as to receive the legs therethrough of a striker 110, with these legsbeing welded or otherwise rigidly secured to wall 108 to each side ofthe apertures therein. Bracket 106 has its side walls stacked to theframe 72 at 112, FIGURES 3 and 7. The detent lever 80 further includes alaterally extending flange 114 which is normally located immeditaelybelow the opening of the striker 110. As shown in FIGURE 7, a cover 116extends around frames 72 and 36 and includes side walls 118 bolted at120 to offset tabs 122 of frame 36 and an apertured upper wall 124bolted at 126 to offset flanges 128 of the frame 36. The upper wall ofcover 116 is apertured to allow the striker 110 to extend upwardlytherethrough, with the bracket 106 including a flanged upper wall 130which locates the cover.

When the deck lid 14 is in an open position as shown in FIGURES l, 2 and3, the striker 110 and frame 72 will be in an extended position. In thisposition of the striker 110, the foot 96 of lever 80 engages theshoulder 98 of lever 58 under the action of spring 160 and the pin 56which interconnects lever 58 with link 50 will be at the upper end ofthe arcuate slot 59, with the foot 54' of link 50 being in engagementwith a bumper 132 secured to frame 36. The spring 44 interconnectinglever 40 and frame 36 is under very slight tension and biases the lever40 clockwise so as to hold link 50 in engagement with the bumper 132 andto locate lever 58 so that the shoulder 98 thereof will be in positionin engagement with the foot 96 of lever 80. Cable 26 which extendsbetween the spring 24 and lever 49 will be taut in the sense that therewill be no slack in the cable, although the spring 24 will be in freeposition and will not be under tension.

Assume now that the deck lid 14 is moved toward closed position. As thedeck lid moves toward closed position, it will engage the roller 22 toswing lever 18 clockwise as viewed in FIGURE 1 about its pivot on thebody. This will tension the spring 24 between the lever and the cable26. The tension in spring 24 will gradually be built up against lever 58as the deck lid 14 moves toward its closed position so as to storeoperating energy for moving frame 72 and striker 110 to retractedposition upon latching engagement of the latch assembly on deck lid 14with striker 110 and release of lever 80 from lever 58.

Although not shown in detail in the drawings, a suitable latch assemblyis mounted on the rearward edge of the deck lid 14 in a position so asto engage the striker 110. This latch assembly generally includes arotary type bolt which is spring biased to unlatched position and isheld in a latched position against the action of the spring bias by adetent lever. This is a common type of latch assembly, and reference maybe had to Patent 2,886,365 issued May 12, 1959, Fox et al. for a showingof the details of such a latch assembly. The bolt of such an assembly isindicated schematically at 134 in the drawings.

When the deck lid 14 has been moved to a partially open positionadjacent its fully closed position, the bolt 134 of the latch assemblywill engage the striker 110 to move the bolt to a latched position inengagement with the striker. When the bolt moves from an unlatchedposition adjacent striker 110, as shown in FIGURE 2, to a latchedposition in engagement with the striker, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5,the bolt engages the flange 114 of detent lever 80 to swing this leverand lever 82 clockwise about the pivot 84 against the action of thespring 100. This moves the foot 96 of lever 80 out of engagement withthe shoulder 98 of lever 53. The tension which has been built up inspring 24 upon closing of the deck lid is now dissipated so as to shiftthe cable 26 forwardly of the body and thereby swing levercounterclockwise about pivot 42 and tension spring 44 as link shiftsdownwardly and swings lever 58 counterclockwise about its pivot on plate36, since lever 58 is now released from lever 80. As lever 53 swingscounterclockwise, it will partially fold links 64 and 68 to shift frame72 downwardly as link 74 swings about its pivot 76 on frame 36 to foldrelative to frame 72 and guide movement thereof. The vertical shiftingmovement of the frame 72 to its retracted position will move the decklid 14 from partially open to fully closed position in sealingengagement with body 10 since the latch bolt 134 is in latchingengagement with the striker 110.

As the frame 72 shifts downwardly and lever 53 swings counterclockwise,the shoulder 94 of the lever will move into engagement with the foot 92of lever 82. Approximately at the same time that the frame 72 reachesits retracted position, the energy stored in the spring 24 isdissipated. However, prior to this dissipation of the energy stored inthe spring 24, spring 44 will have been tensioned to store operatingenergy for returning frame 72 to extend position and the lever 58 willhave moved into engagement with the lever 82. The tension in spring 44will have been built up gradually as frame 72 moves to retractedposition, with this tension tending to bias the lever 40 in a clockwisedirection to in turn tend to shift link 50 upwardly. This action of thespring 44 is resisted by the detent engagement of the levers 53 and 82and the engagement of bolt 134 with flange 114 which preventscounterclockwise swinging movement of levers and 82.

If the detent which holds the bolt 134 is thereafter tripped to allowthe bolt to be moved to an unlatched position, the movement of the boltout of engagement with the flange 114 of lever 80 will allow spring tobias levers 80 and 82 counterclockwise about the pivot 84 so as to movethe foot 92 of lever 82 out of engagement with the shoulder 94 of lever58. The tension in spring 44 is now dissipated to swing lever 40clockwise about pivot 42 and shift link 50 upwardly as lever 58 swingsclockwise about its pivot 60 on plate 36 to unfold links 64 and 68 andthereby shift the frame 72 upwardly and move the striker to its extendedposition as the link 74 now swings clockwise about its pivot 76 on frame36. This movement of frame 72 and striker 110 to extended positionoccurs as the deck lid 14 moves to a partially open position. As theframe 72 shifts upwardly and lever 58 swings clockwise, the edge of thelever 58 will engage the foot 96 of lever 80 to cam the detent lever 80clockwise about the pivot 84 against the action of spring 100 until theshoulder 98 of the lever 58 engages the foot 96 as the foot 54 of link50 comes into engagement with the bumper 132 to thereby limit upwardmovement of the'frame 72 and locate the frame 72 and striker 110 inextended position.

As the operating energy stored in spring 44 is dissipated to move-frame72 and striker 110 to extended position, the clockwise swinging movementof lever 40 maintains cable 26 taut and thereby swings lever =18 to itsgenerally upright position, as shown in FIGURE 1, preparatory to thestart of another'cycle of operation.

Thus, this invention provides a new'and improved vehicle closure latchwhich includes striker means movable between extended and retractedpositions, with the striker means cooperating with a latch assembly tomove a vehicle closure between partially open and fully closedpositions.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle body having a body member, a closure member swingablymounted thereon for movement between opened and closed positions, alatch assembly mounted on one of said members, and striker means mountedon the other of said members for movement between extended and retractedpositions,'the combination comprising, means operative to storeoperating energy as said closure member moves from a fully open positionto a partially open position, means applying said stored operatingenergy to said striker means, means for holding said striker means insaid extended position against the force of said operating energy, andmeans for releasing said holding means upon latching engagement of saidlatch assembly with said striker means in the partially open positionofsaid closure to allow said stored operating energy to dissipate and movesaid striker means to said retracted position thereof to move saidclosure from said partially open position to a fully closed position inengagement with said body member.

2. In a vehicle body having a body member, a closure member swingablymounted thereon for movement between opened and closed positions, a"latch assembly mounted on one of said members, and striker means mountedon the other of said members for movement between extended and retractedpositions, the combination comprising, means operative to storeoperating energy as said closure member moves from a fully open positionto a partially open position, means applying said stored operatingenergy to said striker means, means for holding said striker means insaid extended position against the force of said operating energy, meansfor releasing said holding means upon latching engagement of said latchassembly with said striker means in the partially open position of saidclosure to allow said stored operating energy to dissipate and move saidstriker means to said retracted position thereof to move said closurefrom said partially open position to a fully closed position inengagement with saidbody member, and means for holding said strikermeans in said retracted position thereof upon movement of said strikermeans from said extended to said retracted position by said storedoperating energy.

3. In a vehiclebody having a body member, aclosure member swingab-lymounted thereon for movement between opened and closed positions, alatch assembly mounted on one of said members, and striker means mountedon the other of said members for movement between extended and retractedpositions, the combination comprising, means operative to storeoperating energy as said closure member moves from a fully open positionto a partially open position, means applying said stored operatingenergy to said striker means, means for selectively and alternatelyholding said striker means in said extended position against the forceof said operating energy or for holding said striker means in saidretracted position thereof, and means for releasing said holding meansupon latching engagement of said latch assembly with said striker meansin the extended position thereof and partially open position of saidclosure to allow said stored operating energy to dissipate and move saidstriker means to said retracted position thereof to move said closurefrom said partially open position to a fully closed 6 position inengagement with said body member, said holding means being engageablewith said striker means in said retracted position thereof to hold saidstriker means therein. A

4. In a vehicle body having a body member, a closure member swingablymounted thereon for movement between opened and closed positions, alatch assembly mounted on one of said members, and striker means mountedon the other of said members for movement between extended and retractedpositions, the combination comprising, means operative to storeoperating energy as said closure member moves from a fully open positionto a'partially open position, means applying said stored operatingenergy to said striker means, detent means engageable with said strikermeans in said extended position thereof for holding said means in saidextended position against the force of said operating energy, and means,for releasing said detent means upon latching engagement of said latchassembly with said striker means in the partially open position of saidclosure to allow said stored operating energy to dissipate and move saidstriker means from said extended to said retracted position thereof tomove said closure from said partially open position to a fully closedposition in engagement with said body member, said detent means beingengageable with said striker means in said retracted position thereof tohold said closure in said fully closed position.

5. In a vehicle body having a bodymember, a closure member swingablymounted thereon for movement between opened and closed positions, alatch assembly mounted on one of said members, and striker means mountedon the other of said members for movement between extended and retractedpositions, the combination comprising, means operative to storeoperating energy as said closure member moves from a fully open positionto a partially open position, detented means mounted on said strikermeans, means applying said stored operating energy to said strikermeans, detent means mounted on said striker means and engageable withsaid detented means for holding said striker means in said extendedposition against the force of said operating energy, and means forreleasing said detent means from said detented means upon latchingengagement of said latch assembly with said striker means in thepartially open position of said closure to allow said stored operatingenergy to dissipate and move said striker means to said retractedposition thereof to move said closure from said partially open positionto a fully closed position in engagement with said body member.

6. In a vehicle body having a body member, a closure member swingablymounted thereon for movement between opened and closed positions, alatch assembly mounted .on one of said members, and striker meansmounted on the other of said members for movement between extended andretracted positions, the combination comprising, means operative tostore operatingenergy as said closure member moves from a fully openposition to a partially open position, means applying said storedoperating energy to said striker means, first holding means for holdingsaid striker means in said extended position against the force of saidoperating energy, means for releasing said first holding means uponlatching engagement of said latch assembly with said striker means inthe partially open position of said closure to allow said storedoperating energy to dissipate and move said striker means to retractedposition to move said closure member from said partially open positionto a fully closed position in engagement with said body member, secondmeans operative to store operating energy upon movement of said strikermeans from said extended position to said retracted position, secondholding means holding said striker means in said retracted positionthereof against the action of said second means, and means responsive todisengagement of said latch assembly from said striker means forreleasing said sec- 0nd holding means to allow said operating energystored by said second means to be dissipated to move said striker meansfrom said retracted position to said extended position and thereby movesaid closure member from said fully closed position to said partiallyopen position thereof.

7. A striker assembly comprising, a fixed support, striker means mountedon said fixed support for bodily movement relative thereto betweenextended and re tracted positions, detented means swingably mounted onsaid fixed support, detent means mounted on said striker meansforselective and alternate engagement with said detented means in saidextended and said retracted positions of said striker means, means fordisengaging said detent means from said detented means in said extendedand retracted positions of said striker means, first means for movingsaid striker means from said extended position to said retractedposition upon release of said detented means, and second means formoving said striker means from said retracted position to said extendedposition upon release of said detented means.

8. A striker assembly comprising, a fixed support, striker means mountedon said fixed support for bodily movement relative thereto betweenextended and retracted positions, detented means swingably mounted onsaid fixed support, means operatively interconnecting said striker meansand said detented means to move said striker means between saidpositions thereof upon swinging movement of said detented means, detentmeans mounted on said striker means for selective and alternateengagement with said detented means in said extended and said retractedpositions of said striker means, means for disengaging said detent meansfrom said detented means in said extended and retracted positions ofsaid striker means, first means for swinging said detented means uponrelease of said detent means to move striker means from said extendedposition to said retracted position, and second means for swinging saiddetented means upon release of said detent means to move said strikermeans from said retracted position to said 'extended position.

9. A striker assembly comprising, a fixed support, a movable supportmounted on said fixed support for bodily movement relative theretobetween extended and retracted positions, striker means mounted on saidmovable support for movement therewith, detented means swingably mountedon said fixed support, means operatively interconnecting said detentedmeans and said movable support to move said movable support between saidposition thereof upon swinging movement of said detented means, detentmeans mounted on said movable support for selective andalternat eengagement with said detented means in said extended and said retractedpositions of said movable support, means for disengaging said detentmeans from said detented means in said extended and retracted positionsof said movable support, first means for swinging said detented meansupon release of said detent means to move said movable support from saidextended position to said'retracted position, and second means forswinging said detented means upon re lease of said detent means to movesaid movable support from said retracted position to said extendedposition.

10. A striker assembly comprising, a fixed support, a movable support,means mounting said movable support on said fixed support for bodilylinear movement relative thereto between extended and retractedpositions, striker means mounted on said movable support for movementtherewith, detented means swingably mounted on said fixed support,linkage means interconnecting said detented means and said movablesupport to move said movable support between said positions thereof uponswinging movement of said detented means, detent means mounted on saidmovable support for selective and alternate engagement with saiddetented means in said extended and said retracted positions of saidmovable support, means for disengaging said detent means from saiddetented means in said extended and retracted positions of said movablesupport, first means for swinging said detented means upon release ofsaid detent means to move said movable support from said extendedposition to said retracted position, and second means for swinging saiddetented means upon release of said detent means to move said movablesupport from said retracted position to said extended position.

11. In a vehicle body having a body member, a closure member swingablymounted thereon for movement between opened and closed positions, and alatch assembly mounted on one of said members, the combinationcomprising, a fixed support mounted on the other of said members, amovable support mounted on said fixed support for bodily movementrelative thereto between extended and retracted positions, striker meansmounted on said movable support for movement therewith, detented meansswingably mounted on said fixed support, means operative to storeoperating energy as said closure member moves from a fully open positionto a partially open position, means applying said stored operatingenergy to said striker means, detent means mounted on said movablesupport and engageable with said detented means for holding said strikermeans in said extended position against the force of said operatingenergy, means for disengaging said detent means from said detented meansupon latching engagement of said latch assembly with said striker meansin the partially open position of said closure to allow said storedoperating energy to dissipate and move said striker means to saidretracted position thereof to move said closure from said partially openposition to a fully closed position in engagement with said body member.

Garvey et al July 28, 1959 Du Bois Dec. 8, 1959

